J.A. Happ said he feels fortunate he was not hurt beyond a head bruise and ear laceration. / Mike Carlson AP

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

by Paul White, USA TODAY Sports

Like many major leaguers, Detroit Tigers reliever Darin Downs was concerned after a line drive struck Toronto Blue Jays pitcher J.A. Happ in the head Tuesday night, a blow that had Happ admittedly feeling lucky he only suffered a cut and minor fracture near his ear.

Downs, however, has been through what Happ is experiencing â?? and then some. He spent nine days in a truly life-threatening situation in an Alabama hospital after a 2009 incident when a ball struck him in a minor league game and he suffered a fractured skull and internal bleeding.

And, while his perspective varies from the typical major leaguer, his sentiments about increased protection for pitchers do not.

"Nobody's going to wear one unless it feels comfortable," Downs says of possible safety improvements, especially hat liners made out of Kevlar or similar substances. "I'd totally wear one if something felt comfortable and didn't hamper me from doing my job."

That product hasn't been found yet, though Major League Baseball and the players' union continue to explore possibilities. Until then, danger from batted balls will be, as Phillies left-hander Cliff Lee puts it, "part of the gig."

"As far as a push from the players, no," Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday. "If someone could come up with a product that would work, guys would in favor of it."

"A company sent me two different hats this offseason," Downs says. "They didn't really sit right on my head. Everybody's head is different, so you'd have to custom fit the piece, then custom fit the hat with the insert because now the hat would sit higher."

Downs points out that a cap liner wouldn't have helped Happ because he was struck near the ear. Protection beyond the current cap shape surely would meet with even more resistance.

"If anything's over my head or over my face or anything like that, I think it would be a little bit too much of a distraction," says San Francisco Giants pitcher George Kontos, a teammate of Happ at Northwestern who traded text messages with Happ after the incident.

Brandon McCarthy of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who suffered a fractured skull when hit be a line drive last September, echoes the comfort issue, but says it's a matter of when â?? not if â?? more protection is coming.

"We've put things on the moon before," he says. "So I feel like we could create some sort of a device. It's going to be a money-maker whatever it is. You can sell it to youth leagues and people will wear it all the way through."

Happ, meeting with reporters Wednesday, says he hasn't given increased protection much thought. But even teammates sobered by witnessing the incident accept it as part of playing the game.

"It's just something you accept when you take the mound," says Toronto pitcher R.A. Dickey, who said he spent time after the game praying with his wife for Happ's recovery. "It's such a rare occurrence."

Happ says he's likely to remain in Florida for a few days as a precaution in case concussion symptoms would appear. His biggest issue, he says, is a sore knee that resulted from falling after getting hit. He used crutches Wednesday.

Before meeting with reporters, he and Jennings spoke for the first time.